Buried Alive
by blackdog-lz
Summary: longer story to a prompt on livejournal: When Face is kidnapped and then buried alive the team rushes to find him


This is my first story and part of it has already been published as a prompt on the a-team-kink meme over on livejournal.

Unfortunately I don't own any of these guys and I don't make any money with it either (else I would stop my side job immediately :))

Hope you like the story, drop a review when you do (also if you don't but just constructive criticism, pretty please)

* * *

**Buried Alive**

It had been one little glitch in the plan. Just one and Face was the one who paid for it. The team had been hired to track down a group of kidnappers. Their client had been a relative of one of the victims and wanted revenge for the death of a loved one. The kidnappers had a M.O. that they followed closely. The victims were always taken when they were going to work in the morning, right on their drive way. They were drugged with something strong to be kept calm and then buried alive. A ransom note was dropped off at noon and if the money was paid in time the kidnappers told the family were they could dig up their loved ones.

Hannibal and his team had taken this case immediately. Especially since the kidnappers were busy with at least three known kidnappings under their belt and no reason to stop any time soon, since the police were at the end of their wits. The A-team had studied the profiles of the victims and had tried to come up with possible new targets. They found four. With an uneasy feeling in his stomach Hannibal told them to split up, everyone would watch one of the potential targets. Should the kidnappers attack while they were watching, they should call the rest of the team and follow. After meeting back up again they would form a new plan, storm the place and end the operation. Hannibal didn't like to split up his men, it was better to work in teams of two and have someone to watch your back, but this time it couldn't be prevented. Still he would feel uneasy until they were all back together again.

They had split up early in the morning, taking up position at the potential targets home's before sunrise. At six-thirty Hannibal's cell rang, he checked the number and recognized it as Face's before answering.

"She's got a little girl with her and their coming right now, I'm interfering."

"Lieutenant no." Hannibal ordered, but he could already hear Face walking toward the house.

"Kid's barely five, I'm not gonna sit by and watch that. Track my phone if you have to." With that Face hung up, knowing that his CO was cursing up a blue streak right about now and that as soon as this mission was over he was in deep shit. But right now he couldn't care less. The little girl would not have to live through the horror of seeing her mum kidnapped or worse being buried with her. He had seen an unmarked van parking down the street about half an hour ago and when the doors to the house had opened and the mum and daughter had exited, the doors of the van had opened too. By the time three masked man had stepped out of the van, Face was already moving and calling Hannibal. He intercepted the three masked men maybe 100 feet away from the drive way. Without a warning Face attacked the men. As a rule of fight Face had identified the ring leader and hit him first, a square right hook that brought him down. Face spun quickly and used a high kick to knock the second man down, it was the third that put up a bigger fight, because the initial surprise of the attack was over. And that man was good. He matched Face blow for blow, either man gave as good as he took. It was because of him that Face forgot the other two on the ground for a second. A prick in his calf brought them back to his attention. He looked down and saw a needle sticking from his leg, the plunger pressed down. His last conscious thought was `oh crap` before his whole world turned dark.

* * *

Hannibal cursed heavily and mentally already tore Face a new one as he dialed first BA and then Murdock, telling them to get to Face position ASAP. Only he and BA had a car, since they had drawn the shortest matches and got the houses farthest from their current base of operations. Which also now meant that it would take them at least ten minutes until they would arrive at Face's position and that could already be too late. Cursing his Lieutenant again Hannibal pressed down harder on the accelerator.

BA and Murdock were already on scene when Hannibal arrived five minutes later. There was no sign of Face. Hannibal left the door open and stalked toward the rest of his team.

"Sitrep."

"Nothing, sir," Murdock said. "No sign of Face, the possible target is on the way to work, though." The pilot clenched his ball cap in his hand as he watched the drive way a few feet down. BA had examined the street and was now coming to a stop beside them.

"Damn fool got himself kidnapped and didn't even leave a trace for us to follow."

"He did," Hannibal said and two pairs of hopeful eyes turned to him, "His cell phone. He told me to track it."

"You know how to do that?"

"We'll have to learn."

* * *

Not only was his head aching like he had the worst hangover since he started drinking, his stomach also had joined in the fray and was protesting heavily. He swallowed thickly two or three times, tried to keep the bile down and succeeded just barely. Slowly he opened his eyes, expecting the world to spin like crazy, but was surprised to find it dark instead. What the hell had he been drinking last night? Trying to find out just where exactly he was Face lifted his arms, spread out his fingers and felt his new surroundings. He was lying on coarse wood and panic started to rise in him, when he also felt the same wood just inches to his left and right and finally right in front of his nose. There was not much space for him to bang against the ceiling with his fist, but he still tried it, yelling out for help at the same time. The only answer he got was earth that trickled onto his face. He was buried, in a coffin, oh that was so not good. The panic was full blown now and Face was hyperventilating. It took him a few minutes to calm down and it was more forced than anything else, because he knew that he needed to save air right now. Taking deep, slow breaths Face tried to remember how the hell he managed to get himself buried alive when all came back to him. The client, the buried kidnap victims and the little girl that was the next target. Hannibal was going to tear him a new one as soon as he was rescued. And that was when he remembered his cell phone. The little plastic device was still in his pocket, luckily. He knew there was no way he would get any reception down here, but at least Hannibal and the rest of the team would be able to track him with the GPS-system. Don't give up hope, he told himself, tried to get comfortable and waited.

He hated technology from the deepest regions of his heart. For two hours now they tried to track down Face's phone. Two hours they didn't had. They knew that the kidnappers kept their victims drugged while they were buried. In their drugged state the victims didn't need as much oxygen and therefore could live longer. However Face was much bigger and bulkier than their original target and if he was drugged it wouldn't last very long. Who knew if the air inside the coffin would last long enough for them to find and rescue Face.

Hannibal tipped a few more keys on the keyboard and got another error notice. Maybe he should accept BA's offer to throw the thing out of the window. He could work with the GPS tracking systems they had used in the army, but it had been a long hard road until then. And trying the whole thing with a computer was a thousand times worse. Especially since it had been Face who had explained the technical stuff to him. His fist landed heavily on the keyboard and he cursed heavily as he repeated the process.

"Bossman, I don't think that's the right way to use the computer." Murdock drawled behind him. The pilot had paced nervously along the length of the room, while BA sat at the table in the corner, cleaning the guns.

"I. Don't. Care," every word was supported with another fist to the keyboard, making the piece of plastic jump across the desk.

"Take a break and I'll try it for a while, okay. Destroying the keyboard ain't no way to go."

Hannibal nodded tiredly and gave up his place at the computer. Murdock was much gentler with the keyboard than he had been, but it didn't seem to help him much.

Hannibal smoked a cigar as he paced up and down the room, using the same path Murdock had taken earlier. Then finally after what seemed like another hour the pilot finally shouted in triumph. Immediately BA and Hannibal moved to his side and stared at the monitor. A small red dot was blinking. "That there is our Facey," Murdock said and pointed at the red dot.

"Where is he?"

"Looks like some kinda suburb, boss. I have the route right here."

"Good work, Captain." Hannibal said and patted Murdock's shoulder. Together they collected the newly cleaned guns and sharpened knifes and started off to get their fourth team member back.

* * *

Dizziness was not helping his churning stomach. And even though the world around him was dark he could swear that it was circling around him. There was something, or was it someone, he was supposed to be waiting for, but he couldn't remember what or who it was. His mind was fuzzy and he couldn't concentrate and Face knew that something was wrong. But just like the world was whirling around him, his thoughts were whirling in his head. He couldn't hold on to a clear though long enough to follow it. And he was tired, so goddamned tired. Again there was a bad feeling that he shouldn't fall asleep, but right now the exact reason why eluded him. He tried to curl up on his side to sleep and his shoulder was banging against the wood, why wasn't he in his bed when he was so tired? Sleeping on his back was not his favorite position, but since he had no space he had to. He just needed to remember to scam a better house for their next mission. With this last though Face drifted into sleep.

* * *

The map Murdock had copied down from the computer led them to a small, abandoned house. The neighborhood consisted of similar small buildings, some lived in, some as abandoned as the one they had just passed. A lonely van stood in the driveway, the shutters of the windows were closed and there was no life coming from within. BA parked their van in another abandoned driveway just a few houses down. Hannibal passed out the guns and told them that they were going in through the front door.

As one they moved across dried up lawns and to the front door of the house they hoped Face was in. BA stood to the right of the door, Murdock took up position behind Hannibal, who stood on the left side.

After a quick nod from the Colonel, BA kicked the door in. The house looked as ramshackled inside as it did from the outside. Furniture was scattered around the room, dust danced in the meager light coming through the shudders. They heard sounds coming from one of the rooms in the back and moved toward them. With guns raised high they stormed inside what used to be the kitchen. Three men were sitting at a table, cards spread out in front of them. At the sudden intrusion they stood up and looked wildly around to find anything to defend themselves with, only to come up empty. Not that they ever stood a chance against three armed and pissed-off Army Rangers.

Hannibal smiled, in none of their attacks weapons had been used and now they definitely had the upper hand. "Arms up." Hannibal ordered and slowly his order was followed.

"Sit back down." Again the order was followed and without having to speak up, BA started to tie the men to their chairs with duct tape. Only when the men were secured did Hannibal and Murdock lowered their guns.

"Now I want you to tell me where the man you kidnapped this morning is."

Neither man spoke. BA again moved before Hannibal could give the order. The man closest to the tall Sergeant got the full brunt of BA's bent up anger. A vicious blow send the men and the chair falling backward.

"Again, where is he?" The only reaction he got this time were heads that were shaken.

"Boss," Murdock whispered and Hannibal turned around to see Murdock holding up a dirty shovel.

"Did you bury him in the backyard?" There was no answer forthcoming and Hannibal stopped trying. He too lost some of his anger by punching one of the goons, before he stalked out and into the backyard. BA and Murdock were directly behind him and both came to a stop where he was, overlooking the backyard. The area was not that big, but mostly overgrown with weed. Only one small patch of grass was disturbed, showed recent signs of digging. Hannibal's stomach clenched at the thought that his Lieutenant was buried down there. Murdock disappeared inside the house and came our seconds later, holding two shovels. "They only had two." He said, sounding a bit disappointed.

Hannibal and BA each grabbed on, "Would be too crowded anyway if we dug with three," the Colonel said and padded Murdock's shoulder, "You keep watch."

BA had already placed his gun on the ground and had started digging with vigor. Hannibal's gun joined BA's on the ground and he soon both men were digging.

Cursing fluently Hannibal's shovel hit dirt again. Together with BA he was digging as fast as they could. Murdock was pacing above ground, with his gun at the ready and on the lookout, even though they had took out the kidnappers just minutes earlier. One could never be too careful. Another shovel full of dirt flew from the shallow grave they were digging. They didn't had much time left, since it had already took them nearly three hours to find the kidnappers. Three hours in which Face had been buried alive. Hannibal shuddered, he didn't want to know how his Lieutenant must have felt when he woke up in a wooden box, six feet underground.

They worked in silence and sweat was soon dripping off their faces and made their hands slippery, but both men were used to hard labor and giving up was not an option until they reached the coffin.

Then finally after maybe fifteen more minutes of digging Hannibal and BA hit wood. Both men stared at each other for a second before continuing on at a faster pace, but this time more careful. They couldn't risk destroying the coffin and possibly hurting Face inside. It took them another five minutes until they had cleared the edges of the coffin free of all the dirt. BA had climbed out of the narrow hole and together with Murdock he was staring down, watching as Hannibal opened the coarse wooden box.

His heart skipped a beat the second the lid was removed. Face was lying too still and too pale inside the box. Carefully he lifted his Lieutenant up and into BA's waiting arms. When he too had climbed out, BA had laid Face down a few feet away and Murdock was leaning over him.

"Boss, he ain't got a pulse." Murdock's voice was shaky with fear and his eyes were big and watery as he stared at his CO. Hannibal was beside them in three long steps and knelt down. His fingers replaced Murdock on Face's throat, but no matter how hard he pressed or how often he changed their positions he couldn't find the reassuring beat. He stared at Face's pale, nearly gray face, saw blue lips and nearly lost hope. But Face was still warm and warmth meant that his pulse had been beating not that long ago. They could still get him back, they had to get him back. "Murdock start CPR." He ordered and tilted Face's head back, watched as Murdock placed his hands on the chest, ready to pump and gave Face two quick breaths.

Nothing was happening, there was still no pulse, no breathing and they started the circle again, then a third time. BA above them was cursing the damned fool, who disappeared on them without a trace as they started CPR for a fourth round.

It was a small cough at first that soon turned into a chest heaving, rattling hacking, but Face had started breathing again. Murdock pulled him up into a sitting position and Hannibal supported his back. "Nice and calm, " Hannibal murmured, drawing calming circles with his palm on Face's chest. Slowly the coughing eased up and a tired head landed on his shoulder. Dazed blue eyes opened and slowly focused, "H'nn'b'l?" the word was slurred badly, but Hannibal couldn't help and grin at that.

"Yeah kid?"

"Gonna scam a bigger house t'morrow, 'kay."

Hannibal had no idea what his Lieutenant meant, but he humored him with a "You do that."

They could check if Face had fried any brain cells later, for now it was enough for them to watch him breath.

* * *

Three days later and Face was spread out on a big coach in big house he had scammed. The TV was on, but he wasn't really paying attention to what was playing. Right now he just enjoyed the space. A huge yawn nearly split his face, he hadn't been able to sleep very well the past few nights. Nightmares had woke him up regularly, dreams of being stuck in a tight place and no one coming to the rescue. Face was pretty sure that he was going to avoid small spaces for the unforeseeable future. Besides he was still waiting for Hannibal to tear into him for not following the plan. But just maybe the Colonel had forgotten about that or maybe he would just ignore it for the time being. When he saw Hannibal coming toward him out of the corner of his eyes he pushed that idea in the back of his mind. Not gonna happen. Hannibal had a memory like an elephant and he'd rather deal with things as soon as possible. Face probably had gotten a few days to recover before he got the talk.

"Lieutenant." And he was in deep trouble too, that voice and intonation was never a good sign. Face got up from his sprawl and stood at attention, "Colonel."

"You purposely ignored a standing order."

"With all due respect, sir, but you all would have interfered."

Hannibal had to admit that the kid had a point, even if he would not tell Face that. "But we wouldn't have let ourselves be kidnapped. KP-duty, Face."

"Oh c'mon boss, neither you nor me want to eat what I produce." Face complained and this time Hannibal nodded. While the kid certainly had culinary tastes, his skill in that area was below acceptable.

Just as Hannibal was considering another form of punishment that didn't include them being punished too, Murdock flashed past them with a "Water bomb," and jumped into the outside pool.

Face drew his hand across his face, "Please tell me that he wore some trunks."

"Nope, only saw a rubber duck swimmies." Hannibal replied, just as a female was shrieking outside. "You know your job, kid," the Colonel was smirking. This was so much better than KP-duty.

Face groaned and stepped outside, "Murdock, we have neighbors, you can't go flashing everyone." The only reply he got was a wave of pool water directed at him. "You are going to pay for that," Face threatened as he pulled of his shoes. Seconds later he too jumped into the pool, fully clothed and ready to dunk a skinny dipping pilot.

Hannibal smiled around his cigar as he leaned against the door jamb and watched his men fight an epic water war.

End


End file.
